Peel Ports Great Yarmouth is a modern, multi-purpose port in Norfolk, UK. The port has a new, deep-water outer harbor as well as an established river port.

Being a major hub into the East Anglian mainland, any disruptive event can have a massive impact on operations in the area. The port operators therefore decided to have a comprehensive security monitoring solution put in place to safeguard cargo, the infrastructure and people. Flir’s network-based Latitude VMS Video Management Solution (VMS) was chosen for the job.

Peel Ports Great Yarmouth is strategically located to serve the oil and gas fields of the southern North Sea and the existing and planned offshore wind development off the UK’s East Coast. The port has a long tradition as a general and project cargo port that handles a wide range of cargo such as aggregates, cement, grain, fertilizers, forest products, dry and liquid bulks, pipeline and onshore wind farm equipment.

The port authorities needed a surveillance monitoring solution for both the old and new Peel Port areas to protect vulnerable areas such as entries, exits, jetty areas, storage locations and the loading areas. They also wanted to monitor the waterways efficiently and ensure a quick and effective response in case of emergencies. Another challenge was to make use of the existing network infrastructure for integration of the port’s current analog cameras. All camera video streams needed to be fed into a central control room, and further scaling of the camera network within the town of Great Yarmouth needed to be possible.

Future-proof Video Surveillance Over IP

Peel Ports Great Yarmouth turned to Check Your Security Ltd., a Norfolk-based IP security systems integrator, for the design and implementation of a comprehensive video surveillance system. The Company offers its customers many types of security solutions, based on discussions and a site survey to ensure that customers have a flexible and scalable solution that not only meet today’s goals, but also can expand as and when required.

The company opted for Flir’s Latitude Video Management System (VMS), which provides forensic-quality imaging and user-friendly operation through dedicated, web-based and mobile client software. The video surveillance solution includes a range of hardware components, such as Flir’s Quasar Quad HD cameras and older analog cameras coupled with Flir video encoders, offering Peel Ports many options to efficiently secure the harbor area.

“The task Check Your Security faced was to provide a fully integrated and comprehensive video surveillance system in a harsh coastal port environment,” said Richard Musgrove, Harbor Master at Peel Ports Great Yarmouth. “They offered a solution that met our challenging operational requirements with a robust, reliable and scalable system suitable for today and for the harbor’s future growth.”

VMS and Cameras

Flir Latitude is a powerful, versatile and network-based VMS designed for organizations of all sizes. It allows the control room operators to view, playback, search and export their video streams. The Quasar camera line includes Quad HD resolution and sWDR bullet cameras that combine advanced shutter technology with a high megapixel count. These deliver evidentiary-class video quality under the toughest lighting conditions. They provide 76% more detail than HD1080, and the same forensic zoom as legacy 5MP cameras, utilizing broadcast, motion-processing based architecture.

With the installation of the VMS and camera systems, the safety of the staff and the general public, as well as the operational efficiency of the harbor, has significantly improved. The camera systems include both visual and thermal imaging technologies, guaranteeing detection in any environment during all operation times. Check Your Security was able to maintain the existing network infrastructure through the addition of a wireless mesh and a fiber backbone. The newly deployed system features centralized processing, with a flexible and scalable architecture. The port operators can now ensure 24/7 security, even in remote areas such as the Old Bridge and Outer Harbor.